Inclusion & Diversity

Stephanie Turner:

Diversity is a people issue where we just want people

to be comfortable to share their stories.

And we're not gonna get caught up in,

you said the right word or not,

'cause that's not the time right now.

But we are putting it into place,

one of our definitions, so for me diversity is a noun.

It's a fact, it's all the ways

that we are similar and different.

Whether we're talking about people, places or things.

And so the fact that I've lived all over the country,

I've experienced what I call geographical diversity.

There's a lotta diversity in terms

of the climate, the terrain, the weather.

You could talk about the food, and so that's a diversity

in another way, where we tend to just think

about it from a race or gender perspective.

And so, knowing the dimensions of diversity,

whether we're talking about primary

in terms of all the ways we were born,

in terms of our attributes around race, ethnicity,

sexual orientation , abilities, gender.

And then as you grow in life and you experience

different things, this is what I call

the secondary dimensions of diversity.

Your interest, where you wanna go to school,

where you want to practice your faith or worship.

Do you wanna have kids?

And then we have organizational dimensions of diversity.

Where you work, whether it could be a not for profit,

a Fortune 500, a small size company, a start-up.

Some of us are managers, leaders,

and then last but not least are the cultural dimensions.

Things such as time, the power structures,

when talk about that word, diversity.

And then inclusion is the action, it's the verb.

You know it when you feel included.

And so, it's acknowledging, it's recognizing,

you are utilizing, you're understanding,

all the ways that someone is similar or different.

And then last you're hearing the word belonging,

which we're starting to use a lot at MITRE too.

Well that to me is the emotion.

That's the sense, this is how people want to feel

or based on the outcomes of that organization.

So when their coming in, they're like,

this is how I feel, you know,

like I'm included or valued

and it's going to be different for each of us.

So, it's an emotional outcome

that you want from your organization once you're there.

And that will help with the retention,

if people feel like I have value,

they're coming to me, they recognize me,

they see my skill-set.

I'm being promoted, I'm being assigned to special projects.

So, it's really our responsibility

to better understand our staff, our team,

and how they think and what motivates them.

So, you have to take that time.

And the more you do that, that's where that trust comes in.

That's where that productivity come in,

and collectively we're able to produce new ideas,

thoughts, products, services.

So, that is the endgame in terms

of an inclusive work environment.